29 For the First Time

I can say this because my aunt never reads this blog, she is 52 but tells everyone she is 29. There is something about turning 30 that gets some women. It's sure killing me; this is the last year I have in my 20's. Getting old really is bitter sweet. On January 22, 2012 I turned 29 for the first time. Next year I will start the lie of still being 29 and I will hold onto it for as long as I can. My sister in laws mother held onto it until she just couldn't pull it off anymore and now tells people she is 80 because if I do say so myself, she looks good for 80.

I have never been one for birthday celebrations for myself. They make me feel awkward and don't even get me started about how much I dread being sang to! I knew a party would be inevitable next year so I decided to change it up and have a 29th birthday party. I'm obsessed with Pinterest and wanted a Pinterest style party. I told my husband he could be in charge of food and I would handle dessert and the rest.

Here is what we came up with.

He ordered two party subs from Blimpie. One was the Blimpie Best and the other was Turkey and Provolone.

He also made soup. There was chicken noodle, clam chowder, beef stew and tomato ravioli. We served them in slow cookers in order to keep them all warm and still not burn.

Every platter had a tag with the name of the cupcake.

I made over 100 cupcakes. They consisted of a variety of the following:

Oreo Crunch

Strawberry Brownie
Caramel Apple
Salted Caramel
Mini Cherry Cheesecake
Pineapple Upside Down
Cannoli
Krispy Kreme



The super cute cupcake wrappers came from Orson Gygi and Walmart. My favorite were the zebra wrappers you can see in the back.

I wanted to try them all and knew if I made a batch here and there the two of us would eat them all. This was the perfect time to try new recipes. I bought some take out boxes at a paper supply store for everyone to take a cupcake or two or ten home. They were much more reasonably priced that actual cupcake boxes.

I decorated the table with the cupcakes using different display pieces. Some I had others I picked up at Walmart and the D.I. The cupcake stands were only five dollars at Walmart. They were a Valentines special. If you notice the polka dot boxes they are simple empty boxes wrapped with polka dot wrapping paper.

I added a few extra purple sweets for decoration. There are purple gumballs, taffy, and licorice vines. I made and dyed white chocolate popcorn purple. All of these were put in some sort of pretty glass jar. There were small cellophane bags for everyone to take some home.

The paper lanterns were leftover from a bridal shower I helped throw a couple years ago and sadly I cannot remember the website I found them from, they were so inexpensive.

My favorite thing was the photo booth. I blog stalk someone who had one and I HAD to do it too. It was very easy to make out of PVC pipe. We used ten foot pieces cut in half and made our own fittings for the corners. I waited until the last minute to make this and should have done it sooner so I could have spray painted it. I used a black sheet for the back and my neighbor had black curtains for the sides.

I found a couple great sites on Pinterest that offered free printables for props and dug into the kids dress up for a few others. I used this as my guest book. It was the first thing you saw when you came in the front door. My sweet youngest sister came and took the pictures and made sure no one passed it up. Lamest thing of the night? My husband and I didn't even take a turn in the photobooth together!

Sadly, the only picture I have of myself at my own party! We were testing the camera settings out for this.

Some people really got into the photo booth...

...our very own Erica with her husband...

...and others were just content to sit and smile. I love all the pictures!

I had a couple games planned, but bagged them very last minute and you know what? It rocked. People came and went as they pleased, some stayed the whole time and it was so fun to just hang out. I feel like we still don't know that many people around us so it was perfect to open the doors to new friendships. I love a good party and look forward to many more.

The best birthday wish came from my dad this year:
Happy Birthday Telly, May all of your "pinterest" dreams come true... Does that work? Enjoy 29 for your first time, I love you.


Hands down best photo of the night. I guess you get a little bored sitting at the front of the house alone just waiting for more people you don't know to come.